Is this what we have to look forward to?

[pianomanzano]

My wife received a call from DVC (assuming it was a guide), in response to the sweepstakes promotion and our interest in DVC. At the time she entered, she indicated that we weren’t members, although technically we’re probably still not members yet (closed on a resale and awaiting member ID and points). After about 20 seconds into her pitch, my wife put the phone on speaker to allow me to listen in. The guide/CM was very cheerful and talking about DVC membership, and when she asked my wife about interest in becoming a member, she let her know that we recently became members. The guide sounded surprised and started to look up both her and my name. She then had a sudden change in mood/voice, saying “Oh, you’re resale.” And then after a 5 second pause added “Well if you’re interested in adding on direct and taking advantage of membership perks, then feel free to give us a call, have a magical day” and then hung up. I’m assuming this is a one off thing or some cold calling people/going down a list and not the norm for DVC when interacting with resale/white card plebs like ourselves?

 

[Narcoossee11]

Welcome to the membership that is sales driven, You never can have enough points .

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I believe their incentive for selling something completely new is higher.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

When you deal with the DVC staff at your resort, they will not know if you bought resale, direct, or in my case, both. There are some perks you will not get, but in terms of treatment or your lodging, it is not an issue.

 

[robinb]

You were called by a salesperson. You ticked a box in a sweepstakes saying that you were interested in buying a product and she reached out to you to sell it to you. However, you have already bought the product so she had nothing more to sell you. I’m not sure what more you expected out of her.

 

[DonMacGregor]

You were called by a salesperson. You ticked a box in a sweepstakes saying that you were interested in buying a product and she reached out to you to sell it to you. However, you have already bought the product so she had nothing more to sell you. I’m not sure what more you expected out of her.

And unlike so many other salespeople on the phone with a prequalified customer, she didn't move down her "script" to try to sell any add-on points either. I mean, the tone of her voice and her abrupt change in tact might have been a bit rough, but any time a salesperson stops pitching me without stealing 10 minutes of my life, I'm happy.

99% of sales calls I get end with nothing remotely close to “Well if you’re interested in adding on direct and taking advantage of membership perks, then feel free to give us a call, have a magical day” .

 

[Brian Noble]

I believe their incentive for selling something completely new is higher.

Maybe.

If they were really following the Timeshare Sales Playbook (tm), the conversation would have taken a very different turn.

"Oh, I see. Gee, it's going to be very difficult for you to get the vacations you really want without being a full member! I'm very sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you before you made that decision! But, I think I can still help, though I may need to ask my manager if it's okay, because this isn't something we usually can do..."

 

[hhisc16]

My wife received a call from DVC (assuming it was a guide), in response to the sweepstakes promotion and our interest in DVC. At the time she entered, she indicated that we weren’t members, although technically we’re probably still not members yet (closed on a resale and awaiting member ID and points). After about 20 seconds into her pitch, my wife put the phone on speaker to allow me to listen in. The guide/CM was very cheerful and talking about DVC membership, and when she asked my wife about interest in becoming a member, she let her know that we recently became members. The guide sounded surprised and started to look up both her and my name. She then had a sudden change in mood/voice, saying “Oh, you’re resale.” And then after a 5 second pause added “Well if you’re interested in adding on direct and taking advantage of membership perks, then feel free to give us a call, have a magical day” and then hung up. I’m assuming this is a one off thing or some cold calling people/going down a list and not the norm for DVC when interacting with resale/white card plebs like ourselves?

Home!

 

[pianomanzano]

You were called by a salesperson. You ticked a box in a sweepstakes saying that you were interested in buying a product and she reached out to you to sell it to you. However, you have already bought the product so she had nothing more to sell you. I’m not sure what more you expected out of her.

Not expecting to get special treatment, just something better than the attitude/demeanor of a used car salesperson. She actually had more to sell to us if she bothered to stay on the line after acknowledging we were resale customers. We're interested in RIV add-on points and would've at least taken down her name and inquired about the process to get direct add-on points once everything is set up with our resale contract.

 

[robinb]

Not expecting to get special treatment, just something better than the attitude/demeanor of a used car salesperson. She actually had more to sell to us if she bothered to stay on the line after acknowledging we were resale customers. We're interested in RIV add-on points and would've at least taken down her name and inquired about the process to get direct add-on points once everything is set up with our resale contract.

She really can’t win, can she? If she continued to try to actively sell RIV points after being told that the person was already an owner then some people would complain that she’s too high pressure. One thing about DVC is that it’s a pretty low pressure sales pitch. They don’t play regular timeshare games and they are not agressive. You will find out your guide’s information once you receive your membership information. She may not have even been able to help you at all because she would have been poaching from the person already assigned to you. She left the door open for you to work with your own guide at your own pace. It’s not a bad thing.

 

[pianomanzano]

She really can’t win, can she? If she continued to try to actively sell RIV points after being told that the person was already an owner then some people would complain that she’s too high pressure. One thing about DVC is that it’s a pretty low pressure sales pitch. They don’t play regular timeshare games and they are not agressive. You will find out your guide’s information once you receive your membership information. She may not have even been able to help you at all because she would have been poaching from the person already assigned to you. She left the door open for you to work with your own guide at your own pace. It’s not a bad thing.

Much like how I can't seem to "win" with you either, but that's okay. I'm just trying to learn what reasonable expectations are now that we're DVC I get that DVC is low pressure, unlike other timeshares, etc. All I'm saying is that the palpable difference in her demeanor once she found out we were resale customers really rubbed us the wrong way. You've been a member for 20+ years, put yourself in our shoes. This was our first interaction with anyone from Disney after closing. When you hear the differences between direct/resale contracts are treated, you don't expect it to bleed over to how they interact with you, but that's exactly how it felt and made us second-guess our decision to join because we don't want to spend this much money to be treated like second-class citizens. A simple "welcome home!" and this whole thread could've been avoided. As others have noted, sounds like this is a one-off thing and that staff at the resorts themselves aren't like that.

Happy Friday!

 

[woodleygrrl]

If you are so enraged about this nothing conversation I would get out now. Lord.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

You were talking to a timeshare salesperson. Take the whole "pixie dust! DVC!" out of it. Disney hire salespeople with timeshare sales experience.

They are a few steps lower than a used car experience.

 

[crisi]

Reasonable expectations - you will get a room - it will be cleanish but may be a little shabby. You will get to check in officially after 4. You will not (as a resale owner) be entitled to perks. Staff will treat you like they treat all DVCers - they don't know if you are resale or direct - but that is not always with 100% Disney Magic - for DVCers or anyone else, since CMs are human, underpaid and overworked. Do not expect room requests to be met - there is no harm in asking, there is harm in the expectation. Do not expect early check in. Do not expect late checkout. Do not expect upgrades (with DVC upgrades are pretty much only when rooms go out of service and they need to move someone around). Do not expect to get exactly what you want when you want it consistantly if trying to switch at seven months - subject to availability is a huge catch and it shouldn't surprise you to discover that smaller/in demand resorts book quickly. Expect (currently) long hold times if you need to talk to an actual person. All that is the same whether you are resale or direct.

 

[supernova]

Second-hand points = Third-class citizen

 

[sndral]

I see from the ROFR thread that you bought SSR points - so 2 strikes against you from the salesperson’s perspective, resale + the cheapest WDW resort resale points on the market. Personally I’d take it as a compliment that the DVC salesperson realized that you were an educated consumer & decided to move on to easier marks. I’m sure she has to make hundreds of calls before she gets a sale.
The reality is that pixie dust & magic is fine, but why waste oodles of money if something more reasonably priced meets your needs?
All of my contracts are resale & I’ve not experienced any discrimination when speaking w/ ms or during my stays, so I’d say in actually using those points you just bought there will be no difference in how you’re treated.
I’ve never assumed that any less than service/interaction was due to my being ‘resale,’ but rather attributed it to that CM having a bad day or whatever. I had several cash stays under my belt before I jumped into the DVC pool & some stays were better than others service wise. I’ve had several DVC stays since I bought - same thing, some are better than others service wise.
There is some difference in how DVC guests - whether direct/resale/renters - are treated v. cash guests IMO. W/ cash guests Disney wants you to come back, so they’ll try a bit harder to meet your requests, w/ DVC they know you (or someone using those points) will be back, so there’s less incentive to accommodate things like early check in or view desires. Disney hotels run at a high occupancy for the industry, but no where near the almost 100% that popular DVC resorts run at, so there’s less ability to get you checked in early or switch your villa at DVC - although at SSR that’ll likely be less of an issue because it’s so big. Your MFs pay for refurbs & for staffing, so there’s a balance between pristine rooms/over the top service v. higher MFs. Through time you’ll stay in a pristine villa right after it’s been refurbed & you’ll stay in a more worn villa right before it‘s scheduled for refurb.. You’ll run into wonderful CMs & you’ll have the occasional interactions w/ those having a bad day or who, for whatever reason, are less than helpful. One stay you’ll get a wonderful view/location the next stay you won’t.
I bought DVC because I wanted more spacious accommodations at a lower price than I was paying for deluxe rooms and my resale DVC points have worked wonderfully for that.

 

[Sandisw]

It may be that her tone shifted because she is used to what happens next. It would have been nice after telling you to contact her regarding an add on to give you a chance to say you are interested in RIV

But could also be new and not yet good at how to handle it. I wouldn’t let it bother you as not all sales people are the same.

I know some post here they get info or calls regularly from their guide. I do not and actually have two that I have purchased from

But, welcome home and enjoy your new purchase!

 

[JELLYROLLS4LIFE]

As a resale only member (with a pre-2016 blue card) I have never been treated differently by anyone in person at a resort, or on the phone with member services. I also have spent a lot of time talking to DVC people at various resort tour. I don't let them know I am resale since they don't typically have handy access to look this up. They've always treated me very nicely.

That said, I would never TELL any CM at the resorts I am resale. Why should they care?

The only time I ever got called out for it was during the great point controversy of 2018 when I called in to DVC to complain about the way the point charts were changing. After talking for a while they pulled out the "Well, we see you are a resale member..." card like my opinion mattered less.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Why didn’t you tell her you were finalizing a resale purchase but might be interested in Riv direct? During the 5 second pause that would have been a nice filler.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Don't they assign a guide while closing even a resale? That may be a piece of it.